It’s never a good sign when the Guilford County Audit Committee calls a special meeting to go behind closed doors to discuss a personnel issue regarding the county’s finances with the county attorney.
Audit Committee meetings, like other county committee meetings, are open to the public – and the Audit Committee never goes into closed session to discuss, say, a finding that the county has found much more in its savings account than it knew it had, or in order for committee members to be told by auditors that everything is perfectly fine.
Special closed Audit Committee meetings are almost always called when there’s some sort of problem with the county’s finances or financial records – and, on Wednesday, Nov. 8, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners’ Audit Committee called a special meeting to be held on Monday, Nov. 13 at 10 a.m. in the Bob Shaw Conference room on the second floor of the Old Guilford County Court House at 301 W. Market St. in downtown Greensboro.
But you might not want to go – because you’ll be kicked out of the room when they discuss the most interesting item.
The purpose of the committee meeting is to “receive a report from the external auditor on their audit of the County’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report” and to “enter into closed session, pursuant to [NC General Statutes] to consult with the County Attorney and discuss a personnel matter.”
When the equation is as follows: closed meeting plus county attorney plus the stated reason of discussing a personnel matter at a special called meeting related to the findings of an audit of the county’s books – well, all that, when added up, likely equals a problem.
It may be that no one ever discovers the nature of the conversation that will be had Monday morning because personnel matters are one of the few exceptions of state public records law – and employee misbehavior is one of the few things that a county committee can legally discuss in closed session.
The private session portion of the meeting is being closed off to the public using NC General Statute 143-318.11 (a) (6) as the reason. One of the several listed justifications for closing a meeting under that statute is “to hear or investigate a complaint, charge, or grievance by or against an individual public officer or employee.”
My guess is the county official wears a cowboy hat, a vest, a bowtie and sometimes misplaces his County vehicle. I would be curious to see how the grant money is being spent.
I would love to be a fly on the wall for this meeting. Hope the public is made aware of the outcome!!! If not there will be loads of explaining to do and look for lots of CYA!!
So the audits are beginning to start. So Danny Rogers has pretty much single-handedly spent $90,000 since July on the personnel and training budget which has already been canceled for the rest of the year due to lack of funds so begin the audits begin the criminal investigations
There should be no shield of privacy for “public servants”. They work in the public sector, for the public, so transparency is required.
Thievery of our money is our business.
Shocked to hear there is an Audit Committee. The way this county operates, this committee should be working 24/7.
Yeah,skippy.
Quick read is an “employee.” This type of story better be correct and not allegations that are not supported.
Of course there’s an employee or employees dipping in!! We ALL hear these stories EVERY DAY!
I would appreciate learning where the money came from for the sheriff to buy an airplane. I doubt it came from the source as originally stated.
Don’t hatchet your counts before they chicken.